Coffee Monster is only a short walk from Lougheed Skytrain station and various other establishments on North Road. There is free WiFi, including Shaw Open, and big windows to let in light.

Interior of Coffee Monster

 I didn't try any desserts this time around but there was a good selection.

Desserts

I ordered the passionfruit mango iced tea. On the menu it read "Iced Tea (real fruit)" so I imagined the drink would be seeped tea made cold with slices or cubes of real fruit in it. Turns out it was a well blended concoction of real fruit that didn't taste much like tea at all. I really enjoyed it because it was refreshing with slight tartness to balance out the sweetness.

Overall this is a great place to hang out or study, which we observed many of the other customers doing.

Sushi Cali is a small but very popular sushi joint in Burquitlam. I've heard about their great value and long queues so I was glad that we got seated right away when we went at about 3pm (though it filled up quickly after that).

Crispy Avocado Roll - The amount of avocado in the roll made it creamy which was nicely balanced out with the crispy tempura flakes. The chipotle mayo added flavour and more creaminess to the roll.

Crispy Avocado Roll

 Spicy Salmon Sashimi - I remember seeing the chef put this dish up on the sushi bar and thinking, "Wow that looks good, wish we ordered that." To my pleasant surprise, that dish was headed right for our table! The cubes of salmon and cucumber were generously tossed in a spicy sauce that was slightly hot for my low spice tolerance. This yummy dish really expands your appetite to eat more.

Spicy Salmon Sashimi

All in all, service is quick and no-nonsense here. The only slow part was paying at the register with the take-out orders and sit-ins all queuing up for one cashier.

Toe Dam Korean Fusion BBQ is located in a plaza with H-Mart and many other restaurants. Kim Yuna ate here when she was in town for the Olympics! On a weekday afternoon the small restaurant only had another table occupied besides ours.

We ordered a set lunch and an off the menu beef soup which was plenty of food for two people. The Marinated Pork with Spicy Tofu Soup set lunch came with banchan and two bowls of rice. The pork came piping hot which I enjoyed and was slightly sweet and mildly spicy. The plain rice tasted awesome after soaking up the sauce from the pork.

Marinated Pork

 The tofu soup was not that spicy either and came with cubes of soft tofu. I suppose it tasted underwhelming compared to the beef soup.

Spicy tofu soup

The beef soup was very hot (temperature wise) and pretty spicy for my low spice tolerance but it was delicious! There were glass noodles, strips of beef, egg and vegetables. It was a meal in itself with the amount of noodles in the soup.

Beef soup

Next time I really want to try the BBQ at Toe Dam because that is what they are famous for!

Cumpari's Gelato and Caffe is across the street from Lougheed Mall. The interior is bright with round glass tables well spaced out on one side and an assortment of gelato and cake on the other. I don't drink coffee so I can't really comment on it but Cumpari's seemed to serve a good variety.

There were many cheesecake choices from mango to strawberry to pistachio. I finally chose a slice of Nutella cheesecake. The cheesecake was topped with a thin layer of chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. There was a graham cracker base and in between was the fluffy cheesecake. I enjoyed the texture of this cheesecake because it wasn't too heavy but you will definitely feel full after.

All in all it's a good place to enjoy dessert and catch up with friends, which many of the other customers were doing.

After watching the Korean drama, "My Love from Another Star" I've been wanting to try Korean fried chicken since the main character always mentions it. The search for the chicken brought me to Dasarang Chicken in Coquitlam which is only a short drive from Lougheed Mall.

There weren't any customers when we went to eat on a weekday for lunch and during our time there only another two people came in. It's a fried chicken and beer kind of place so there should be more people in the evening.

We ordered the yangnyeom chicken which is fried chicken mixed in a spicy but sweet sauce and sprinkled with sesame. The chicken was boneless so it was easy to eat and each piece was thoroughly coated with the sauce. The photo below is one portion and costs a little under $20. The two of us couldn't finish it and we didn't even order anything else! The fried chicken is very filling.

Overall this is the kind of fried chicken I would crave, sorry Kentucky Fried Chicken. Though the portions are definitely big and you should go with more people if you want to try other things on the menu.

I felt slightly strange that I didn't order chicken wings at Wings but I didn't feel like eating deep fried or bread coated meat so I ordered a chicken quesadilla instead. There are two things that I always can't help ordering when I see it on the menu: fish tacos and quesadilla.

The presentation of this one was pretty with green and red colours. Also enjoyed that they gave plenty of sour cream for dipping.

Chicken quesadilla

There was a good amount of cheese to hold everything together and nothing fell out which can sometimes be a problem when eating quesadilla. The chicken was slightly spicy and the tortilla remained quite soft instead of hard and crispy. Overall I liked it!

There are so many Korean restaurants in Coquitlam to try but a friend recommended Ddoo Gau Bee as her favourite affordable Korean restaurant.

Ddoo Gau Bee is located in the mall pictured below.

Ddoo Gau Bee

We were there around 5pm and there were only two other tables eating.

Since we don't speak Korean it took a bit of hand gestures and pointing to the menu to order our food. There were four of us but we weren't that hungry so we ordered three items.

The banchan consisted of kimchi and potato which I've had at other restaurants before but it also came with pan-fried firm tofu which I haven't had before and I liked it. 

Banchan: kimchi, tofu, potato

 This is a shrimp dish combo that includes fried dumplings. There were 8 pieces of battered shrimp tossed in sweet and sour sauce. The shrimp was hot and springy (unlike those mushy shrimp when they're not fresh). I also found the sauce appetizing.

The fried dumplings also came very hot. I couldn't read the menu so I'm not sure what was inside it but there seemed to be some beans, potato noodles, and vegetables.

This is another combo with tofu soup and salmon caviar rice. The tofu soup was fairly good with typical Korean broth, zucchini, tofu, and onions but I liked the rice more. It is Japanese rice (with the vinegar taste) with finely chopped lettuce, salmon caviar and some crunchy bits (kind of like Hickory Sticks) layered on top. When mixed well, every bite of the rice had a slight crunch which tasted great.

The third item we ordered, I had the highest expectations for because the pot stews I've had at previous Korean restaurants were always good even if the other food was mediocre. However, the Beef & Octopus one we ordered today was a disappointment.

It did not come looking especially appetizing. Everything was just piled into the pot of broth and there was no steam.

Beef & Octopus Pot Stew

Let's compare it with the photo on the menu. There's definitely a great discrepancy. I understand that food cannot look exactly like the perfect menu shots but this was just too big of a difference! There were missing ingredients in the picture that wasn't in our pot, like all the greens shown in the photo. 

Putting looks aside we stirred up the contents for it to cook. But even stirring was difficult because the ingredients were in chunks! All the beef and enoki mushrooms were in huge chunks. There were probably 4 huge chunks of beef (pictured below) that were not separated at all and therefore not cooked thoroughly nor easy to eat. 

It was like a packet of frozen hot pot beef slices you buy at the supermarket that was thrown directly into the pot without bothering to thaw or separate the pieces. 

We asked for mild spiciness but the broth just turned out bland. Definitely going back to Ma Dang Goul to eat pot stew.

Our bill came to $52.39 before tax which is a good price for dinner. The other food was good but since we ate the pot stew last and it was such a disappointment, that ruined my impression of the restaurant. 

I thought it was going to rain again today but it turned out to be warm!

We wanted to go to Bunzten Lake to enjoy the weather but when we arrived the road to the lake was closed down for some repairments so we headed to the nearby Belacarra park.

It is definitely smaller and less scenic than Bunzten Lake but it is also a lot quieter with more free space.

After the lake, we headed to Port Coquitlam for some sweet treats. First stop was Luscious Creations to get cupcakes. We almost drove past this location because it is slightly under ground level with downward stairs leading to the front entrance.

We tried two kinds: a red velvet with cream cheese icing one and a nutmeg one.

I enjoyed the cream cheese icing but not so much the cake for the red velvet cupcake. The cake was not soft like I expected, instead it was dry and not moist or soft enough to be a cupcake. The texture was more muffin-like than cupcake-like.

The same muffin-like texture for the nutmeg cupcake. This one tasted like a sweet muffin actually.

Inside the store there were beautifully decorated cakes and pictures of past creations. The designs are unique and attention grabbing so I suppose they just make cakes better than cupcakes!

Second stop was Matteo's Gelato. It's a bistro cafe that serves gelato and coffee. There was a great assortment of freshly made gelatos to choose from. At gelato stores I want to taste test the flavours before I commit to choosing one but I always feel bad for asking so I just choose what sounds or looks best. This method doesn't work all the time but this time it worked!

This is creme brulee and blueberry gelato. I'd like to mention that their portion size is generous because mine was suppose to be a small gelato with two flavours but it was spilling over the edges! :)

Both flavours tasted good, especially the blueberry one since I love the fruit itself. The texture was creamy and smooth, comparable to Bella Gelateria's gelato texture. 

Creme brulee & blueberry

 I've never tried lemon gelato before but it was surprisingly refreshing. It tasted like tangy, slightly sour lemonade. Some people might prefer their gelatos more sweet than sour but I liked this lemon flavour.

Lemon

 Overall, I had a good range of sweets this afternoon! If I'm in the area again I would likely stop by for some gelato.